Tulare County Symphony Stellar Serenades

Symphony plays Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky
Popular violinist returns as soloist

Haik Kazazyan, one of the top violinists of his generation, returns for his fourth appearance with the Tulare County Symphony for their Saturday, Nov. 12 concert at the Visalia Fox Theatre.

Kazazyan will perform one of Tchaikovsky’s most brilliant and cheerful works, the “Violin Concerto in D Major,” considered one of the most technically difficult works for the violin.

Born in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, Kazazyan has won numerous prizes, including the Amadeus Violin Competition in Belgium. He first played with the Tulare County Symphony in 2004. The audience was so impressed with his talent that he has been invited back three times.

Also on the program is “The Firebird Suite” by Stravinsky. The young composer was commissioned to compose music for The Firebird Ballet in 1909. It premiered to instant success, bringing Stravinsky worldwide fame.

Stravinsky also created a concert suite of the music, which tells the story from Russian folklore of an evil magician who holds 13 princesses captive. The hero, Prince Ivan, sends the firebird after the magician’s monsters, bewitching them and making them dance an elaborate, energetic dance. They are then lulled to sleep, allowing the princesses to escape.